Jody was born to the late Jean (Campbell) Bixby and the late James Bixby on February 27, 1954, in Lakewood, Ohio. She grew up in Medina, Ohio, where she graduated from Medina High School in 1972. She attended Bowling Green State University, graduating in 1976, earning a bachelor of science degree in outdoor recreation. She met her future husband, Harry Doyle, from Toledo, Ohio, at freshman orientation and they eventually married on August 13, 1977. They moved to Texas, Kentucky and then back to Ohio in 1987 where they made lifelong friendships at each location. They chose Defiance “as a great place to live” and raise their family, they were not disappointed. She was a loving and devoted mother to her three children, Meghan, Austin and Kurt.

Jody was an active member of the community she loved, and lived a life of service. She was a member of multiple Defiance High School booster groups (academic, athletic and band), a CAPE volunteer and Defiance City School Foundation trustee. She was also a substitute teacher at Defiance schools. She was a member of the St. Paul Lutheran Church service guild and attended St. John United Church of Christ. She was on the Art in the Parks board and did the box office for the Fort Defiance Players. She was a member of the Defiance City Parks Board and started the annual Neighborhood Clean-up Your Park Day in 1994, which continues each spring. She was honored to receive the Defiance Chamber of Commerce Quality of Life award in 2006.

Jody will be greatly missed by her beloved family; husband, Harry; children, Meghan, Austin, and Kurt; her brother, Jeffery Bixby; and sister, Laura (Bixby) Bogdanski and her husband, Robert. She also will be missed by the extended Bixby and Doyle families, including all her loved nieces and nephews, as well as many dear friends. She was preceded in death by her parents.

A service to celebrate her life will be held at the St. John United Church of Christ, 950 Webster St., Defiance, Ohio, on June 22, 2019, at 11 a.m.

Suggested memorials are to the Defiance High School Academic Boosters, in care of Defiance High School, 1755 Palmer Drive, Defiance, Ohio; Defiance Neighborhood Clean-up Your Parks Day fund or the Defiance Tree of Life fund, both in care of the Defiance Parks and Recreation Department, 631 Perry St., Defiance, Ohio.

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